Festival of Distortion
by MahNati
Summary: That place was so beautiful, and her new friend was also so nice and gentle. What could possibly go wrong staying there for the night?


**I don't own "NiGHTS into dreams…" and "NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams". I only own Marli. (my OC that, after this story, I won't pay much attention)**

Marli looked from the hills she was standing at the small festival that was not far away. A joyful music filled the air and there were lots and lots of sphere lamps illuminating the place, even tough the sunset could be seen. She couldn't remember how she ended up in that place; all she could remember was a bright light, taking her away from the darkness she was left in oblivion for some reason. It was everything confusing, but that didn't mind to her at that moment.

"Seems nice. Maybe I should give it a try." she thought with a smile and headed towards the festival.

The entrance had a big arch decorated with red and pink flowers and small red fences were showing the limits of the festival. White petals were gently falling from the trees near the fences. It was everything so beautiful…

As she took a step in, an orange and red jester came by, floating. He had a black face and was wearing a red and white cape; however, he didn't have a body.

"Ah, welcome!" he said with a grin, "Welcome to the Dream's Festival! We hope you enjoy your stay here. There's music, games and fun for all night. Such a wonderful place is here, that even the demons would enjoy staying."

Marli let out a giggle. It was funny imagining such things as demons enjoying a merry festival. The girl nodded with a smile and followed the path made of stones. There were small red tents with food. There were also tents with games, flowers and even pets. Marli took look at the few people around her; they all seemed happy. There were singles, couples and families, and they all were wearing red clothes. She looked at her clothes: a white t-shirt, light blue skirt and white slippers. Marli felt a little uncomfortable for being the only one with different colors, but who could blame her? She didn't know about that festival about fifteen minutes ago.

"Visitor, shall we dance?" asked someone.

She jumped in surprise and turned around, only to see a red and black jester. He was wearing a golden persona and had gray skin. He was gently smiling at her. His hand was extended, like he was expecting her to take it and dance with him.

"D-Dance? I don't even know you." she answered.

"It's a feast, right? C'mon, just one music." he insisted.

The music was fast and happy. Marli looked at some couples dancing together. "Alright, one music then."

Marli took the jester's hand and danced. Taking a better look at his red feet, she saw that he was floating instead of using them to dance. She frowned a little, but at least she wouldn't have to worry about stomping his foot. As the dance went on and on, Marli could see that the gentle expression in his face was fading; instead, his aquamarine eyes looked more and more menacing at every second that passed. She began to feel uncomfortable with that gaze.

The music ended and all the couples dispersed, satisfied. The jester's eyes were fixed on her honey brown eyes. "Well, that was fun. Thanks for the dance, but I'm leaving now. See you." she said.

The jester held her arm tightly. Marli tried breaking free, but that only made his grasp tighter.

"Hey, let me go! I have already danced with you!"

"Of course I'll let you go, after stealing all the Ideyas that are inside you. Oh, too bad you lost your Ideya of Intelligence, but the other four will do just fine." he said with a smirk.

The jester raised his hand, showing his sharp nails. His eyes were aiming her chest.

"Wait, what are you doing?" she shouted. Marli desperately looked at the people around them; they weren't even bothering to look at what was happening.

All of a sudden, a purple blur came dashing from the sky, abruptly separated them and went flew high again. Both of them looked at the blur, which was now gently landing by their side. It was a purple jester.

"Reala, leave the visitor alone right now!" the jester firmly said.

"Why don't you take care of your own business, NiGHTS?" the red and black jester, Reala, asked irritated.

NiGHTS crossed his arms and frowned. "You're not doing this to her, not in this night of joy. Get out of here!"

Marli was expecting the two to get in a fight, but surprisingly, Reala just groaned in frustration and left flying. "What just happened?" she asked.

"Don't worry about him, he'll not get close to you anymore," NiGHTS smiled, "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

NiGHTS put his hands on his hips. "Say, want to hang out? The Festival is still in the beginning."

Marli scratched the back of her head. "I don't know. Maybe I should just leave, I mean, I'm not even wearing the right clothes and…"

"Me neither. Don't worry, you're fine. This has to be one of the greatest festivals ever, you are very lucky to be here." he laughed. His voice was soft and musical.

Somehow, she knew she could trust him. He didn't seem cruel like the other one, so with a nod, she accepted his offer.

"NiGHTS, that was amazing!" Marli said with a stuffed fairy creature in an arm, "I can't believe you managed to hit all those targets without even looking."

"You wanted this prize so much. And plus, that game was fun." NiGHTS said.

As they were passing by some flower tents, NiGHTS pointed at some flowers on the ground.

"Hey Marli, look. Isn't it beautiful?" he asked.

Marli looked at the flowers. They were pure white and, somehow, they seemed to be smiling.

"Yeah, they are pretty," she then noticed a squirrel approaching the flowers, "Aw, how cute."

"He's reminds me you." he whispered.

The squirrel began to smells the flowers. Suddenly, the flowers seemed to frown. One of them spilt some sort of green liquid at the squirrel. The animal gave a loud yell and contorted violently on the ground.

"No!" she screamed in shock.

After some seconds agonizing, the squirrel was dead. Marli covered her mouth in disgust. NiGHTS just shook his head and the flowers smiled again.

"H-How did this happen? These flowers… they seem so innocent."

"The squirrel was too stupid to approach them. He got fooled by their beauty and that's what he deserves," NiGHTS said in a cold tone, "You don't need to care about this little crap Marli, it's none of your business. C'mon, let's dance!" he said cheerfully and floated away from the scene.

Trying to forget what just happened, Marli followed NiGHTS. Little did she know that the corpse of the small creature was being eaten by those flowers. They reached an empty glade that was just a few feet from the Festival. Once again, there was a merry music filling the air and the jester started to gracefully spin around. Marli just followed him. After a few seconds, she forgot about the incident with the squirrel and enjoyed the dance with her new friend. The dance went on and on, with both of them never touching each other, but still performing a beautiful dance. The girl was laughing and hoping around, as well as the jester.

Two bright spheres, one yellow and one green, came out from her and after some time floating around, went to NiGHTS' hands; she didn't pay attention to that tough. What a perfect little moment they were having; it was just like a dream.

The music stopped and they both went to rest in a tree. Marli have never had so much fun.

"So, did you enjoy?" NiGHTS asked with his eyes closed.

"Are you kidding me? It was awesome!" Marli grinned.

The jester smiled. "Would you like to stay here forever?"

What an odd question; whoever, she just shrugged. "Why, yes. It's way better than home."

"You know, there's a way to stay here." he said. His eyes were still close.

"And what is it?" Marli asked. She wasn't serious, she knew she had to return to home sometime.

"Well, have you ever heard about the Ideyas? They are the five parts of a human's heart and consciousness. They represent courage, purity, hope, growth and intelligence." NIGHTS began.

The girl suddenly remembered the other jester's words. He too said something about those Ideas things. "And what this has to do with me staying here?" she asked a little unsure.

"Ideyas are represented by colorful spheres. They are what protect a dreamer from a nightmare; however, once a visitor looses all of them, they are to forever be trapped in their fears." NiGHTS finished.

Now that was getting very confusing to her. "What are you saying? That this place is a nightmare? It can't be! It's too beautiful to be one…" she said out loud.

NiGHTS remained silent for a moment. He then snapped his eyes wide open. Marli muffed a shout as his eyes were now almost entirely back, saved by a tiny red spot in the middle. He grabbed her arm with one hand and with another, craved his other hand in her heart.

"I didn't expect anything better from someone who lost her Ideya of Intelligence!" he hissed in a demoniac voice.

The Dreamer let out a cry of pain. The feeling was of something stabbing and cutting her chest by the inside. "P-Please, STOP IT!" she shouted.

"But weren't you the one who wanted to stay here? I'm going to realize your dream. I just need to take the last two Ideyas that remain in you, the hardest ones. It would be less painful if you didn't resist." he laughed and thrusted deeper into her heart, causing even more pain to her.

After some time agonizing, NiGHTS managed to pull out a bright red orb from her. Marli fell in the ground, shaken and with her hands in her chest. "I'm surprised that I could get the Ideya of Courage first. It is more common to steal the Ideya of Purity. I guess that the purity in your heart is stronger than your little damn courage. Oh well, let's just finish this." he said as the Ideya disappeared in his hands.

He was about to crave into her chest again, when Marli quickly got to her feet and ran as fast as she could. NiGHTS just smirked and started to chase her.

"C'mon Marli. Just one more Ideya." he said.

"Leave me alone!" she shouted. Tears began to form in the corner of her eyes.

The girl took a glance at the people on the festival. Their faces were all blank, and their eyes seemed dead. Were they Dreamers who lost their Ideyas? She didn't want to end up like them. Suddenly, she saw again the disembodied orange and red jester floating above her.

"What you are witnessing is the vicious cruelty that looks like an innocent dream." he whispered and then smirked.

Marli broke down into tears and kept running. NiGHTS was getting close at every second. "W-Wait… this is a dream, right? Wake up!" she desperately thought.

She concentrated as hard as she could to wake up, but nothing happened. The entrance could be seen just a few feet away. "Wake up! Wake up! Don't let him get you!" she said under her breathe. NiGHTS' extended arm was about just four feet away from her. His face was filled with the smile she liked so much.

"WAKE UP!" she shouted as she put her foot in the entrance.

The girl snapped her eyes wide open and quickly sat in her dark blue bed. She was shaking and her eyes were flooding with tears. What a horrible nightmare…

"D-Don't worry… you're safe… you're safe now…" Marli whispered to herself.

Marli looked at the palm of her hands; they were glowing in a weak white light. At least she managed to save the Ideya of Purity. She hugged herself in a fetal position. "Why?" Marli thought. She got fooled by a Nightmare, and it was her fault. She got so blind by the beauty in there, that she couldn't see the truth. Now only the White Ideya remained in her.

The digital clock in the bedside showed that was still 4:00 AM, but Marli was too scared to sleep. What if she returned to there? NiGHTS would be waiting her, with his fake grin. She had already lost her intelligence, her courage, her wisdom and hope. No, she wouldn't let him take her purity from her, it was the last thing she had. Marli didn't know what she would do about that later, but for that moment, she would just stay there, in her dark bedroom.

**Okay, so I made NiGHTS the villain. I just thought it would be interesting making him this way (also, I was in a Halloween spirit when this idea came). **

**Let's think that, even though in the game she is good, she is still a Nightmaren. *hugs NiGHTS* I promise that, if I do another NiGHTS fic, I'll stay true to her character (yes, I see NiGHTS as a girl, but I thought making her a male would fit better for this story).**

**Please review!**


End file.
